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Who's eligible for ASSG?

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  1. #31

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    Shri,

    It's good to know. It's my time to search for them.


  2. #32

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    Quote Originally Posted by yanquis:
    Thanks again kma.

    With researching this forum and Hairball's site, I applied for RTL (145). Mom was born in Mainland but moved to HK. She has 3 stars on her HKID. IMMD had sent me a letter requesting her documents (date when immigrated to US). I didn't follow up before their deadline.

    If I provided documents of her HKID card and copy of my birth certificate when I applied, why would they need more documents? I was approved for ASSG with the same copies. Wouldn't their system link her and me together? Wouldn't they have her documents on file? I'll head to IMMD this week.
    Come to Hong Kong, what do you have to lose in applying, if you're not successful, take it as a holiday, but if you are successful, then you will definitely know it was worth it
    yanquis likes this.

  3. #33

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    Thank imparanoic. I did apply in May 2016 and IMMD sent me a follow up letter. I didn't follow up on what they requested. I was curious why couldn't they pull my mom's info and link me together with her info.

    I'm moving. Visa will be activated on Wednesday. I'm lining up the ducks before the big move.


  4. #34

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    Quote Originally Posted by yanquis:
    Thank imparanoic. I did apply in May 2016 and IMMD sent me a follow up letter. I didn't follow up on what they requested. I was curious why couldn't they pull my mom's info and link me together with her info.

    I'm moving. Visa will be activated on Wednesday. I'm lining up the ducks before the big move.
    Because the onerous is on the applicant to prove that he is eligible, not the govt's responsibility. Also, your eligibility depends on the visa status of your mom in the USA, something that HK has no record of.

    FYI in your case, you either have Chinese nationality and HK RoA, or have no resident status in HK (before your ASSG). RTL is not relevant to you as your parents were not born in HK.

  5. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by yanquis:
    Thank imparanoic. I did apply in May 2016 and IMMD sent me a follow up letter. I didn't follow up on what they requested. I was curious why couldn't they pull my mom's info and link me together with her info.
    I think if you just replied back with a letter saying you could not obtain copies of those documents at the time, they'll try to continue processing the application without it (assuming that your mom could not pass on nationality to you in this case). For someone whose parents were BDTC (including by being born in HK), one can give this response in their application and still obtain RTL.

    And if you later are able to obtain the docs, you can always reapply again later....

    Quote Originally Posted by kma88:
    Because the onerous is on the applicant to prove that he is eligible, not the govt's responsibility. Also, your eligibility depends on the visa status of your mom in the USA, something that HK has no record of.

    FYI in your case, you either have Chinese nationality and HK RoA, or have no resident status in HK (before your ASSG). RTL is not relevant to you as your parents were not born in HK.
    As I pointed out before, there is an exception here. https://geoexpat.com/forum/54/thread...ml#post3446489 This is also in Hairball's guide.

    kma88, you seem to have a faulty memory regarding this.

  6. #36

    I looked at this when we were planning our move to Hong Kong last year, as my father was born in Guangzhou, but moved to Hong Kong when he was 4 years old. I seemed to meet all the requirements, but since my employer was happy to apply for a work visa for me and a dependent visa for my husband, it seemed like a lot more hassle to find the necessary papers relating to my father's birthplace and HK residency (especially since my father is no longer alive) for not much more benefit and having to be more involved in the paperwork than I needed to be for the work and dependent visas. The only advantage seems to be not being tied to an employer, but as I don't currently have any intention to change employer, I didn't particularly see this as a big enough plus to make it worthwhile.


  7. #37

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    Quote Originally Posted by Scousebanana:
    I seemed to meet all the requirements, but since my employer was happy to apply for a work visa for me and a dependent visa for my husband
    Might be worth tracking down now anyways.

    Quote Originally Posted by Scousebanana:
    The only advantage seems to be not being tied to an employer, but as I don't currently have any intention to change employer, I didn't particularly see this as a big enough plus to make it worthwhile.
    I think it does make sense to wait in your case. My understanding under ASSG is that, if you ever did have to change employers (say because something happened to cause your current one to go bankrupt, for example), if you've already been on the ASSG visa for over a year then you basically would need to find a new employer ASAP.

    However, if you stick to your current work visa and need to change employers later, then you can just switch to ASSG later. And you'd get an extra buffer of a year, plenty of time to conduct a job search.

    Quote Originally Posted by Scousebanana:
    it seemed like a lot more hassle to find the necessary papers relating to my father's birthplace and HK residency (especially since my father is no longer alive) for not much more benefit
    Hmm. I didn't know that this was even possible - can your dad still 'sponsor' you for a visa even though he died?

    One of the requirements for ASSG is a copy of your parent's current, valid HKPIC - I took this to mean that if your parents have left HK and not come back and not renewed their HKPICs after they had expired, then they'd have to go back to HK first and go through the process to get new HKPICs, and only after this was completed could you then make your own application under ASSG.
    shri likes this.

  8. #38
    Quote Originally Posted by IceEagle:
    Might be worth tracking down now anyways.



    I think it does make sense to wait in your case. My understanding under ASSG is that, if you ever did have to change employers (say because something happened to cause your current one to go bankrupt, for example), if you've already been on the ASSG visa for over a year then you basically would need to find a new employer ASAP.

    However, if you stick to your current work visa and need to change employers later, then you can just switch to ASSG later. And you'd get an extra buffer of a year, plenty of time to conduct a job search.



    Hmm. I didn't know that this was even possible - can your dad still 'sponsor' you for a visa even though he died?

    One of the requirements for ASSG is a copy of your parent's current, valid HKPIC - I took this to mean that if your parents have left HK and not come back and not renewed their HKPICs after they had expired, then they'd have to go back to HK first and go through the process to get new HKPICs, and only after this was completed could you then make your own application under ASSG.
    Many thanks for your considered feedback. Since I have over one year of my initial two year visa to run, I think I will stay as I am for now, particularly given the additional complication that I may no longer be eligible in any case since the death of my father. I think if my current employer goes bankrupt, we would in all likelihood return to the UK, unless another opportunity arises, but to be honest, given I work for one of Hong Kong's largest corporates, this is relatively unlikely and there would be a lot of people in trouble if that ever happened.

  9. #39

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    Quote Originally Posted by Scousebanana:
    particularly given the additional complication that I may no longer be eligible in any case since the death of my father.
    I respect your choice. Still, I admit that I am curious to see what would happen if someone in a similar situation attempted to apply through ASSG.

    For ROA/RTL, it seems that there have been conflicting reports with one poster being told that he is not able to get it because his parent died,

    https://geoexpat.com/forum/54/thread193765-2.html (post 14)

    but then another person successfully obtained RTL through their dead parent.

    https://geoexpat.com/forum/54/thread17054.html

  10. #40

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    Amlc1984,

    Here was my process.

    (If you haven't done so)

    You would need to go to ASSG Scheme floor at IMMD. Show the officers your letter. The fee is about 190HKD to get the Visa sticker for your passport. In your case, if you already have landed, I think you may have to go through another border crossing to get "Journey Completed" stamp from HK officer on the Visa to activate it.

    But beforehand, schedule an appointment (preferably online) and head back to IMMD for your HK ID. You will have your card in 2 weeks. If you are giving permission for someone else to pick up your card, you will have to complete Form 140.

    Best of luck to you!

    K